Quick Links

Paul Calabresi Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology (K12)

The purpose of the Paul Calabresi Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology (PCACO) K12 (NIH Institutional Research Career Development K12 grant mechanism) is to increase the number of clinicians (M.D.s, D.O.s, Pharm.D.s, nurses with Ph.D.s or equivalent) and Ph.D. scientists who are trained to design and test clinical therapeutic research protocols (pilot/Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical trials), conduct patient-oriented cancer therapeutic research in team research environments, and to support the career development of investigators who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research.

A PCACO can support the research career development of senior fellow and/or junior faculty level clinicians (single track) or senior fellow and/or junior faculty level clinicians and postdoctoral Ph.D. scientists (dual track). Clinical and Ph.D. scientists will collaborate and interact to expedite the translation of basic science research discoveries into patient-oriented therapeutic cancer research. The PCACO is not intended to train scientists for laboratory-based research. The PCACO provides up to 5 years of support and is renewable.

Applicant Eligibility

PI Criteria

Citizenship

At the time of the award, the PI must be:

a U.S. citizen

or must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card (1-151 or 1-551), or other legal verification of such status).

Career Stage

Established Investigators (Associate and Full Professors)

Expected to have ongoing R01 and/or R01-like cancer focused grant support (for the K12 Program, R01 and/or R01-like awards are grants or contracts of at least 3 years and $150,000 a year in direct costs, including those supporting clinical trials)

Mentor Criteria

Career Stage

Researchers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to participate as mentors.

Expected to have independent R01 and/or R01-like cancer related research support (for the K12 Program, R01 and/or R01-like awards are grants or contracts of at least 3 years and $150,000 a year in direct costs, including those supporting clinical trials)

Scholar Criteria

Citizenship

At the time of the award, the scholar must be:

a U.S. citizen

or must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card (1-151 or 1-551), or other legal verification of such status).

Career Stage

Scholar must be:

Physicians holding the M.D. or D.O. degrees

Pharm.D. recipients

Nurses with a Ph.D. or equivalent degree

Scholar must have completed the necessary clinical training (i.e., completed residency and are board eligible) to engage in clinical oncology research.All basic science scholars must have a:

Doctoral-level degrees (e.g., Ph.D.) or the equivalent

Minimum of 2 years of postdoctoral research training

Basic research experience that is clearly preparatory (e.g., experience with animal models or preclinical research) for devoting a career to human therapeutic cancer research

MD: PhD Ratio

2:1

Commitment

Scholar must commit a minimum of 9 calendar months (75% of full-time professional effort) to research and career development.

Scholars who have U.S. Veterans' Administration (VA) appointments may not consider part of the VA effort toward satisfying the "full time" requirement at the applicant institution.

Duration of Award

2 to 4 years of support

Budget

K12 Program Allowable Costs

Direct Cost Limits

All applications must not exceed $750,000 for direct costs per year.

The first year's direct costs budget is capped at $50,000. This first year is for advertising and recruitment of Scholars, Advisory Board(s) recruitment and meeting, curriculum planning and development and development of individual Scholar's curricula.

Personnel Support

Up to $10,000 total per annum may be allocated for all PDs/PIs of the K12 programs to partially offset their salaries and associated fringe benefit costs, depending on commitment of effort.

The costs of a consultant, Program Administrator and/or program assistant with responsibilities directly associated with the institutional career development program can be requested with justification.

Application Receipt Dates and Review Schedule

When a standard submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Note: Start dates are determined by the availability of NCI funds and may not occur until well after the earliest possible start date.

Review and Selection Process

An appropriate Scientific Review Group (or groups), along with NCI, and the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) will evaluate your application for conformance with eligibility requirements. Subcommittee F convened by the Division of Extramural Activities of the NCI will determine if meets the broad needs of the program and priorities of NCI and the National Cancer Program.

K12 Special Notes

This is an NCI-specific Program Announcement. For all of the policies governing this award mechanism, refer to the Program Announcement: PAR-13-201.

Recommended Tables

For required Tables for New and Competing Renewal applications, please see Data tables for use with Institutional Research Training grant applications using the SF424 (R&R).

Special Institutional Statement Regarding Human Subjects Research Under K12 Support

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Paul Calabresi Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology (K12) must be in compliance with all NIH/NCI policies pertaining to the use of human subjects. These policies apply to all research involving human subjects, not just clinical trials.

The K12 is a training and career development grant in which candidate positions are filled at the discretion of the institution and assignment of candidate positions is generally not known at the time of application or at the time of an award. Due to this uncertainty, the word "Indefinite" should be placed in the box for IRB review date on the face page of the application and the applicant institution must provide in the submitted grant application a Special Statement on Human Subjects Research.